Politics of Anvard
The politics of Anvard takes place within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Anvard is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by Her Majesty’s Government, on behalf of and by the consent of the Monarch. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the Parliament of Anvard, the House of Ministers and the House of Peers. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, the highest national court being the Supreme Court of Anvard. Anvard is a multi-party system and since the 1920’s, the two largest political parties have been the Conservative Party and the National People’s Party, before the NPP rose in Anvardian politics the Worker’s Party was the other major political party along with the Conservatives. Though coalition and minority governments have been occasional feature of parliamentary politics, the first-past-the-post electoral system used for general elections tends to maintain the dominance of these two parties, though each has in the past century relied upon a third party to deliver a working majority in Parliament. The constitution of Anvard is uncodified, being made up of constitutional conventions, statutes and other elements. This system of government, known as the Westminster system, had been adopted after declaring independence from England. The Crown The Anvard Monarch, currently Her Majesty Queen Margaret III is the Chief of State of Anvard. Though she takes little direct part in the government, the Crown remains the fount in which ultimate executive power over Government lies. These powers are known as the Royal Prerogative and can be used for a vast amount of things, such as the issue or withdrawal of passports to the dismissal of the Prime Minister or even the Declaration of War. The powers are delegated from the Monarch personally, in the name of the Crown, and can be handed to various ministers, or other Officers of the Crown, and can purposely bypass the consent of Parliament. The head of Her Majesty’s government; the Prime Minister, also has weekly meeting with the sovereign, where she may express her feelings, war, or advise the Prime Minister in the Governments work. Executive Executive power in Anvard is exercised by Sovreign, Queen Margaret III, via Her Majesty's Government. The Anvard Government The monarch appoints a Prime Minister as the head of Her Majesty’s Government in Anvard, guided by the strict convention that the Prime Minister should be the member of the House of Ministers most likely to be able to form a Government with the support of that House. In practice, this means that the leader of the political party with an absolute majority of seats in the House of Ministers is chosen to be the Prime Minister. If no party has an absolute majority, the leader of the largest party is given the first opportunity to form a coalition. The Prime Minister selects the other Ministers which make up the Government and act as political heads of the various Government Departments. About eleven of the most senior government ministers make up the Cabinet and approximately twenty five ministers in total comprise the government. In accordance with constitutional convention, all ministers within the government are either Members of Parliament or peers in the House of Peers. As in some other parliamentary systems of government, the executive is drawn form and is answerable to Parliament – a successful vote of no confidence will force the government either to resign or to seek a parliamentary dissolution and a general election. In practice, members of parliament of all major parties are strictly controlled by the whips who try to ensure they vote according to party policy. If the government has a large majority, then they are very unlikely to lose enough votes to be unable to pass legislation. The Prime Minister and Cabinet The Prime Minister is the most senior minister in the Cabinet. S/he is responsible for chairing Cabinet meetings, selecting Cabinet ministers, and formulating government policy. The Prime Minister is the de facto leader of the Anvard government, since s/he exercises executive functions that are nominally invested in the sovereign. Historically, the Anvardian monarch was the sole source of executive powers in the government. However, following the rule of Igathus monarchs, an arrangement of a Prime Minister chairing and leading the Cabinet began to emerge. Over time, this arrangement became the effective executive branch of government, as it assumed the day-to-day functioning of the Anvardian government away from the sovereign. Theoretically, the Prime Minister is primus inter pares among his/her Cabinet colleagues. While the Prime Minister is the senior Cabinet Minister, s/he is theoretically bound to make executive decisions in a collective fashion with the other Cabinet ministers. The Cabinet, along with the POM, consists of Secretaries of State from the various government departments. Cabinet meeting are typically held weekly, while Parliament is in session. Government Departments The Government of Anvard contains a number of ministries known mainly, though not exclusively as departments, e.g. Ministry of Finance. These politically led by a Government Minister who is often a Secretary of State and member of the Cabinet. He or she may also be supported by a number of junior ministers. Civil Service Implementation of the Minister’s decisions is carried out by a permanent politically neutral organisation known as the civil service. Its constitutional role is to support the Government of the day regardless of which political party is in power. Unlike some other democracies, senior civil servants remain in post upon a change of Government. Administrative management of the Department is led by a head civil servant known in most Departments as a Permanent Secretary. The majority of the civil service staff in fact work in executive agencies, what are separate operational organisations reporting to the Department of State.